r 


T H E 


GOLD PLACERS 


OF 


*N"ortliern Georgin 


PROS PECTU S 


OF TH K 


LUMPKIN OHESTATEE 

n 


Illuming and Mining Com jj ann* 


O F F I*C E It S. 

DIRECTORS: 

IJkn'iiy D. Cooke, Peter Hannay, Daniel E. Somes, Jas. P. Herron, John H. Rice, 
William Window, Edward L. Norfolk, John R. French, Alfred R. Ely. 


President. 

WILLIAM WINDOM. 


Vice Prest. 

DANIEL E. SOMES. 


Secretary and Treasurer. 

JOHN R. FRENCH, Office. No. 470 Seventh Street, Washington, D. C. 


Superintendent. 

Col. J. K. WING, Dahlonega, Ga. 


Mining Engineer. 

ADOLPH TIMES, Dahlonega. Ga. 


i 


WASHINGTON : 

GIBSON BROTHERS, PRINTERS. 

1867. 


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PROSPECTUS. 

-4MM--- 


From Maine, in the northeast, to Alabama, in the south¬ 
west, the whole country is traversed by the Alleghany or 
Appalachian range of mountains, through which runs a 
belt of from twenty to fifty miles in width, composed of 
micaceous and metamorphic sandstone and calciferous sand- 
rock, talcose, chloritic, siliceous, hornblendic, and micaceous 
slates, &c., having a general trend from the northeast to 
the southwest, and forming an unbroken series of strata, 
belonging to the Taconic, Potsdam, or sub-Silurian system. 

Amongst these strata, as wherever else they are known, 
there are found numerous veins of valuable ores, among 
which may be enumerated iron, zinc, copper, lead, antimony 
and bismuth, silver and gold, the latter being principally 
found in what is termed the gold-belt, or a series of strata 
of from five to seven miles in width, running parallel with 
the main zone. 

In this belt the gold is found mainly in fine particles, 
interspersed through thin veins of quartz intercalated 
between the layers of the talcose and micaceous slates, 
these veins varying from the thickness of a fine sheet of 
paper to several inches. It is also held by many practical 
and scientific miners that tbe talcose slate itself, independent 
of its quartz veins, is gold-bearing, and from recent develop¬ 
ments in Georgia it would now seem to be placed beyond 
doubt. Gold is also found abundantly in the veins of quartz 
and iron pyrites which traverse this belt, and which in fact 
form one of its chief sources. 

The great gold-belt of the Alleghanies, so far at present 
as is known, finds its greatest development in the north¬ 
eastern portion of Georgia, especially that part of the State 



2 


watered by the Chestatee river and its tributaries, which 
thus far have formed the celebrated gold-diggings of Georgia, 
and from which have been taken, within the last thirty 
years, at least twenty millions of dollars, and which were 
deemed of sufficient importance by the government to in¬ 
duce it to erect a mint at Dahlonega, a mining town, 
situated within three miles of the Chestatee river, and be¬ 
tween two of its principal tributaries, Cane creek and the 
Yahoola, from the banks of which and adjacent hillsides, 
within an area of about five miles square, the most of this 
immense wealth was taken. 

The Chestatee river forms one of the head waters of the 
well-known Chattahoochee, of Georgia, and has its rise 
in the foot-hills of the eastern slope of the Alleghanies, in 
Lumpkin county, whence it Hows in a southwesterly direc¬ 
tion through the low range of hills which form, compara¬ 
tively speaking, the valley between the Alleghanies proper 
and Blue Kidge, receiving in its course several small afflu¬ 
ents or tributaries, until it forms by its confluence with the 
Chatooga, the Chattahoochee, and having, in its sinuous 
and tortuous course, been frequently intersected, as well as 
its tributaries, by the great gold-belt at the point of its rich¬ 
est development. 

All experience in California, Idaho, Montana, Cariboo, 
and Fraser river, as well as Australia, has shown that the 
beds and banks of streams and the dry-beds of old water¬ 
courses have formed the richest gold-diggings or placer 
deposits, and that, even in regions where the matrix of the 
gold consisted of hard flinty quartz veins, imbedded in 
granite and other time-enduring rocks. If, then, such is 
true, what may be said of the gold prospects of Georgia, 
where the original matrix of the gold is found in innumer¬ 
able soft and friable leaf veins , imbedded in slate of a 
nature so soft and light that they can be excavated by the 
aid of the shovel alone for great depths, and so easily acted 
upon by the elements that vast quantities of their detritus 
are annually swept away by the rains and floods down the 
Chestatee, which, in this respect, acts as a huge gold-saving 


, i i 



3 


machine, and one that lias been at work in this way for 
myriads and myriads of years. 

Need it, therefore, he matter of surprise that there 
should have been found such immensely rich deposits in 
the banks and accessible portions of the beds of the Clies- 
tatee river and its tributaries, since the wasted hillsides, 
laden with their golden treasure, adjacent to their banks, 
have, as before mentioned, been paying such lavish tri¬ 
bute to them for untold ages. 

Notwithstanding that these streams have been more 
or less worked by the miners by the process known as 
boat-shoveling—one of the most costly and imperfect of 
methods—being induced thereto by the rich returns made 
for their efforts, wherever the depth of the river would 
permit them to reach its lower strata of gravel, still it 
remains, in spite of all that has been attempted, a virgin 
stream, they in no instance ever having been able to 
reach the “ bed-rock/’ where the great body of the gold 
lies, so that it forms to-day one of the most alluring 
enterprises—the baring of its bosom by the drying of its 
bed—to the gold miner—the ambition of all who have 
ever mined in Georgia, and stands confessed the noblest 
mining enterprise of Georgia, and one, while it promises 
by far the richest returns of any in the country, commands 
the undivided and universal good wishes of all the people 
of that country for a speedy and great success ; in fact, 
one of those few gigantic enterprises which forms the 
hopes of a whole community. 

Up to this time the beds of these streams have lain, 
as it were, a sealed book. Previous to the war the im¬ 
proved methods of mining rivers by fluming, as carried 
on in California, had not reached Georgia, and since 
then they have been left in too impoverished a condition 
to adopt it for themselves. Beyond this, each side of 
the river has been owned by a multitude of small owners, 
who, although having a community of interest in seeing 
the river worked, yet lacked that community of enterprise 
which alone could have enabled them, by combining 


4 


their interests together, to work the river with economy 
and profit, which one can readily understand, since the 
first outlay necessary to work a small portion of the river 
would be just as great as that required to work ten miles ; 
hence the river remains unworked to this day. Notwith¬ 
standing that its richness has been well known to all the 
miners on its banks for years past, none of them for a 
moment ever dreamed it was possible to dry its bed at 
such a cost as would justify any one in its attempt, in 
the hope of afterwards making it pay. Now, however, 
since the idea of burning the river, and its comparatively 
small cost, has been presented to their minds, they have 
all, without exception, given in a cordial adhesion to 
the project, and cheerfully granted the necessary leases 
and privileges for its fulfilment. 

With this object in view, the Lumpkin Ciiestatee Min¬ 
ing Company has been organized under a special charter 
from the Legislature of the State of Georgia, with a, 
capital of one million dollars, divided into fifty thousand 
shares of twenty dollars each, and an authorized capital 
of three millions of dollars , granting to Henry D. Cooke, 
Peter Hannay, Daniel E. Somes, and James P. Herron, 
of Washington, D. C.; John H. Pice, of Maine; William 
Windom, of Minnesota; Edward L. Norfolk, of New Hamp¬ 
shire ; John R. French, of North Carolina ; and Alfred 
B. Ely, of Massachusetts, and their associates, the exclusive 
right of burning and mining the Chestatee River, as 
also the right of way, of water and wood, for these 
purposes, for a distance of ten miles, and all its tribu¬ 
taries within that territory, including among others 
Cane Creek and the Yahoola ; a mining property proba¬ 
bly unequaled in its prospects because of the extent 
and richness of its mines, and the value of its mining 
privileges, by the property of any mining company on 

this or the California slope of the Rocky Mountains. 

% 

In addition to this charter, the company has secured 
from the owners of the property, on both sides of the river, 
leases for ten years, granting the same privileges; that is to 


5 


say, the exclusive right of fluming and mining the river, 
&c., for a period of ten years, including the customary min¬ 
ing privileges of way, wood, and water, but conditioned upon 
the payment to the owners, in satisfaction of all royalt}^ and 
damages, of an one-tenth part of the gross product of gold 
and other valuable minerals. The company’s property 
commences at the lower end of the canal cut across lot 123 , 
in first district of, originally, Habersham, now Lumpkin 
county, and extends down the river a distance of ten miles, 
including all tributaries within that distance, one of which, 
Cane creek, has already yielded, by the rude and partial 
method of mining to which it was subjected, an almost in¬ 
credible amount of gold; and it is still believed by all good 
miners that it will now, on being again properly worked, 
yield fully as much, if not more, than it ever did before. It 
also includes the celebrated Fields and Calhoun mines here¬ 
after referred to. 

* The intention of the Lumpkin Chestatee Mining Com¬ 
pany is to drain or dry the bed of the river and its 
tributaries by the method known in mining parlance as 
fluming, and then to mine its bed, as they would any other 
deposit mine. After their beds have been mined the hanks 
and old beds are then to be subjected to the same operation, 
and they it is believed will yield fully twice as much as the 
present beds, but they cannot be effectually mined until the 
bed of the river is drained, as the present waters drown out 
the miners when they reach the pay gravel, which, in fact, 
forms a part of the old bed of the river, and hence allows 
the water to pass freely through the gravel, one of the 
greatest grievances of the miners of the past. 

It has been computed, by tests made in the bed of the 
river at different times, that it will yield, on the average, 
from two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to five hundred 
thousand per mile, while the cost of fluming and mining the 
river per mile will not exceed thirty thousand dollars—for 
it will be borne in mind that labor is abundant and cheap in 
that locality—so that, paying one-tenth of the gross receipts 
as rent, it will leave to the company per mile a net profit of 


6 


one hundred and ninety-five thousand dollars. And so, 
with ten miles of tributaries, which it is computed will yield 
from one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars per 
mile to two hundred thousand dollars, and which will not 
cost more than twelve thousand five hundred dollars to 
flume and mine, deducting the one-tenth part for rent, they 
will yield a net profit of one hundred thousand dollars per 
mile. 

While from their banks and the old river beds, after the 
present beds have been mined, it would be an exceedingly 
low estimate to place the profits of their mining at as much 
more; and this after having made in each instance a very 
large allowance in the reckoning of expenses for contingen¬ 
cies. 

The charter also grants to the Company the right of 
acquiring mining and other property in fee simple, by 
virtue of which clause they have recently purchased the 
property of the Dahlonega Gold Company, situated in 
Lumpkin County, Georgia, and on which the Company 
propose to commence their flume. This property consists 
of two substantial Dams across the Chestatee River, well 
made and in complete repair; a thoroughly made Canal 
of 60 feet in width cut across a bend of the river, taking 
the entire flow of the river at all stages, thus leaving a 
third of a mile of the river ready for mining without 
further expense, save the pumping of the dead water from 
the old river-bed; and the choice mining lots 513, 515, 
516, 525, 526, 527, and 528, in the 15th district and 1st 
section, and lots 123 and 125 of the 1st district of Lumpkin 
County, amounting in the aggregate to about 560 acres, 
and constitutes the most valuable portion of the well-known 
McAfee and Beers’ mining properties. 

On these lots there are known to be rich placer and 
hillside deposits, and there are also strong reasons for 
believing that they are traversed by veins of great richness ; 
first, because they lie in the very heart of the gold belt 
and are surrounded by rich vein mines on the bordering 
lots, and secondly, because the celebrated “ Bolv Fields’ 



7 


Mine,” of marvelous richness, as the extracts from the 
reports of Professors Blake and Jackson appended to this 
prospectus will show, must run into lot 125, it lying on 
the opposite side of the river, where it was found and 
worked, and running in that direction (the mine itself as 
worked is in the river , and has only to extend half way 
across the river in the direction in which it runs to reach 
lot 125 ;) so that it must he found, on proper search being 
made, and which necessarily will he done, and the vein 
exposed when we come to work that portion of the river 
within the present year, as it is not more than about 
three-quarters of a mile from the head of the flume, if so 
far. This vein, when found, if its past richness is to form 
any criterion of its value, will he worth millions to the 
Company. And if past experience in vein mining is to be 
of any value now, it may also he expected to he found 
traversing lots 528, 527, 526, and 525 ; so that the pros¬ 
pective value of these lots upon proper developments being 
made, is indeed very promising, aside from their vital 
importance to the Company as the initial point of the flume. 

Independent of this rich “ Boly Field Vein,” lot 125 is 
also traversed by a large talcose slate vein similar in 
character, if not identical, with the famous “ Pigeon Roost 
streak” or vein, now being worked by Col. Pride, and 
found to pay largely. This vein has already been tested 
by Mr. Thies, the able superintendent of the late Dahlonega 
Gold Company, and found to contain gold in more than 
sufficient quantity to yield, on working, a rich return for 
the expense and labor incurred. The vein, so far as exam¬ 
ined, appears large and inexhaustible in quantity, and 
although it has not been as thoroughly tested as is desirable, 
still sufficient is known to justify the belief that the 
Company has in it a mine of immense value, at once 
easy of access, and that will cost hut little, from the nature 
of the ore, to work and mine. There is also on this lot a 
Soapstone quarry of excellent quality which may he turned 
to good account. 

Another great advantage derived from the purchase of 


8 


this property consists in the fact that about a third of a 
mile of the river bed is now dried ready to work, with the 
exception of pumping out the holes, the river having been 
turned by the Dahlonega Company for that purpose by a 
canal; so that the Company can commence mining immedi¬ 
ately without the expense of f uming that much of the river, 
so soon as the machinery for pumping out the holes shall 
arrive; and which, it may be here* remarked, is now on 
its ivay. 

So it will be seen that after the mining of the river 
and its beds, (former and present,) which is the grand 
purpose of this Company, there will remain, for sale, 
or for working, these 560 acres of mining lands purchased 
of the Dahlonega Gold Company. The gentlemen of 
this Company, were well known and sagacious business 
men, chiefly residents of Georgia and its neighborhood, 
familiar with everything pertaining to the “ Gold Field” 
of that State, and these lots were purchased by them 
some years since as the most desirable lots, when the 
entire field was open for selection. 

In this connection it is proper to state that although 
the exclusive privilege of mining the river and its tributaries 
secured to the Lumpkin Chestatee Mining Company by 
lease and charter extends but to ten years, yet the right 
of general mining as a corporate company extends to 
thirty years. 

In view of what has already been said, it will be apparent 
that this enterprise offers to capitalists a field for invest¬ 
ment with such probabilities of profit as has rarely if 
ever before been presented to them. 

In consequence of the valuable purchase of the property 
of the Dahlonega Gold Company, whose capital stock was 
eight hundred thousand dollars, this Company has availed 
itself of its right under the charter to increase its capital 
stock from fifty thousand to sixty thousand shares to assist 
in paying for it, the remaining four thousand shares of 
the increase being placed in the treasury for working 
purposes, if needed, otherwise for distribution. 


9 


The Company have already purchased and paid for the 
necessary machinery, and had it forwarded to Georgia to 
work their property. The machinery thus purchased con¬ 
sists of a portable Engine of thirty horse power of Hoad- 
ley’s manufacture. One Andrew’s Centrifugal Pump, capa- 
able of throwing three thousand gallons of water per minute ; 
one Cameron Direct .Action Pump and fixtures, capable 
of raising one thousand gallons per minute ; one Saw Mill, 
capable of sawing 15,000 feet of lumber per day ; besides 
mining tools and mercury, blacksmith’s forge and tools, 
machinist’s and carpenter’s tools, wood-chopper’s axes, &c., 
&c., &c. These it is expected will reach the mines and 
be ready for work about the latter part of June, when, in 
the course of another month, it is confidently believed the 
Company will be in successful operation. 

In addition to the large amount of machinery and tools 
thus purchased and paid for, and the money now in the 
Treasury, the Company have reserved for further working 
capital some eighteen thousand shares, which it is believed 
will be more than sufficient to meet all contingencies in 
putting the operations of the Company in efficient condition 
to work the river and develope their vein mines, and raise 
the value of their stock far above par, as it ought to be 
considering the great prospective value of their property 
and their rare chart-ered privileges. 

Believing that the success of an enterprise of this charac¬ 
ter must depend upon the integrity, intelligence and industry 
of its active managers, the Directors of this Company con¬ 
gratulate their stockholders upon their good fortune in 
securing for their Mining Engineer, Mr. Adolph Tiiies, a 
graduate of one of the best mining schools of Germany, and 
with several years practical experience in charge of mining 
interests in both Africa and Europe, as well as in Georgia, 
and with distinguished success. 

The same good fortune has enabled them to secure the 
services of Col. J. K. Wing, of Ohio, for general Superin¬ 
tendent of all their operations in Georgia—a gentleman of 


10 


much business experience and wide reputation for the 
qualities needed for this important position. 

For the purpose of adding to the cash on hand, to meet 
possible emergencies which may arise in developing this 
enterprise, 2,000 shares of the working capital will now 
be sold at $15 per share, upon application to the Treasurer. 

Washington, D. C., May 28, 1807. 


/ 


A FEW FACTS IN REGARD TO THE GOLD PLACERS OF 

NORTHERN GEORGIA. 


In 1838 a branch of the United States Mint was estab¬ 
lished at Dahlonega, where large amounts of gold were 
received for coinage. Before the establishment of this 
branch mint the gold was taken in many directions—to 
the mint in Philadelphia, and to North Carolina and New 
Orleans. A large amount, however, was never deposited 
for coinage. 

The statistics of the mint do not exhibit the true amount 
taken out. A large amount of the gold, when the richest 
placers were being worked, was sent off into Kentucky and 
Tennessee, in exchange for stock and provisions. Money 
was freely furnished by banks and individuals at the north 
for the purchase of gold dust, at low rates, and much of the 
gold was manufactured without having been deposited. 

In White’s “Statistics of Georgia,” a carefully prepared 
gazetteer of the State, it is stated that the amount of gold 
already taken from the mines in the neighborhood of the 
Chestatee river, (and chiefly from the beds and banks of 
the streams flowing into this river,) is about $26,000,000. 

It is the universal testimony of those who have worked 
in the placers of Georgia that the gold is generally in 
larger lumps and particles, or is coarser than in the placers 
of the western part of North Carolina, in Burke, McDowell, 
and Rutherford counties. The quality of the gold is excel¬ 
lent, rarely yielding less than ninety per cent., or nine 
hundred parts in one thousand, the difference being silver. 
The standard of gold of the United States consists of nine 
hundred parts of gold to one hundred of alloy. 

* THE REPORT OF DR. BLAKE. 

William P. Blake, the geologist of the United States 
Pacific Railroad Survey in California, a geologist and 
mining engineer learned in his profession and of much 



12 


experience, has professionally visited northern Georgia 
several times, and made highly interesting reports of the 
mining resources of that section. We take pleasure in 
making the following extracts from one of his reports : 

“ The portion of the great gold-belt of Georgia to which 
my attention was directed is in Lumpkin county, and in 
the vicinity of Dalilonega. This place was early selected 
as the most central and convenient point for a settlement 
in the gold region, the richest mines and deposits being 
found in its immediate vicinity. It is located on a high 
ridge of considerable extent, being bounded by the Ches- 
tatee river on the south, on one side by the valley of Cane 
creek, and on the other by the Yahoola river—the two 
streams last mentioned being tributaries of the Chestatee. 

•'‘The general direction of the summit, or ‘divide,’ of 
the ridge is northeast and southwest, trending nearly with 
the rocks of which it is composed. These are chiefly horn¬ 
blende slate, mica slate, gneiss, and a metamorphic 
sandstone. In some places the hornblende slate is almost 
as hard and compact as trap-rock, and, having a dark 
green color, much resembles it. The whole ridge, with its 
spurs between the creeks, is traversed with gold-bearing 
veins, parallel to the main axis, or nearly northeast and 
southwest. They are found out-cropping at various points, 
some of them near the town, and others in the valleys of 
the branches. Many of them have been worked, and others 
are known to exist by the accumulation of their fragments, 
and gold in the creeks. 

“The ridge attains an elevation of about 500 feet above 
the Yahoola river at its mouth, and gives rise to several 
creeks, or branches as they are generally called, which 
flow in deep lateral valleys on each side; those on the east 
into the Yahoola, and those on the west into Cane creek. 

“Most of the creeks flow nearly at right angles to the 
course of the strata and the veins, and thus intersect the 
latter in succession. The valleys are very deeply cut into 
the rocks, and are the result of the long-continued wear¬ 
ing action of the waters, which have broken out an enor- 


i 


13 


rnous amount of vein-stones, and mingled the gold with 
the fragments. In this manner each stream became a 
rich deposit of gold, or a concentration, after the manner 
of a sluice, of all the gold originally contained in a vast 
amount of rock. The rapidity and ease with which the 
rocks are worn away by running water in that region is 
surprising to those who have not become familiarized witli 
the extensive decay and softening which the rocks un¬ 
dergo, at the south, especially, in the gold region. Mica 
slate, gneiss, hornblende slate, and even granite, become so 
softened to a depth of many feet below the surface that 
they may be cut with a shovel or a hoe, and excavated 
like clay. In most places these decomposed rocks are 
very red ; the color being produced by a large amount of 
oxide of iron, derived from the decomposition of pyrites, 
which, by furnishing sulphuric acid in the soil, has un¬ 
doubtedly hastened, if not caused, the rapidity of decom¬ 
position of the rocks. The quartz contained in the rocks, 
either in grains or in veins, does not become softened or 
changed by this process of decay, so that when the soft¬ 
ened rock is cut away by the streams the “ vein-rocks” 
or quartz-seams are left in fragments along their beds, 
together with the gold which may have been associated 
with them. By the prolonged attrition or rolling together 
of these quartzose fragments they are broken up, and the 
gold is liberated, and, being the heaviest, sinks below all 
the gravel and sand until it reaches the bed-rock or sur¬ 
face of the slate. In this manner gold deposits are formed 
along streams. 

“In the region under consideration a vast "amount of 
detritus, or drift of gravel, sand and clay, resulting from 
the abrasion of the rocks in the manner described, is now 
found along the courses of the present and the ancient 
beds of the streams, precisely as in other gold regions.” 

After discussing at length the rich character of the 
“stream deposits,” giving authentic and highly interest¬ 
ing report of the working of the several creeks and 
branches which flow through the numerous valleys of that 


14 


hill country and arc tributary to the Chestatee, Dr. Blake 
adds this testimony to the remarkable richness of the 
country : 

“During the progress of these examinations, many trials 
of the earth were made by panning. The samples were 
taken from various points along the deposits and the hill 
sides, and gold was found in every instance, without ex¬ 
ception. The whole soil and earth of the region is so 
impregnated with gold that it would be difficult to obtain 
a panful without one or more particles. After the rains 
the gullies along the roads in some places contain so much 
gold that the poor and the blacks frequently scrape them 
out and wash the sand. These results, together with the 
other observations, were sufficient to convince me that 
there is an enormous amount of gold still remaining in 
these deposits. It became evident that the original wash¬ 
ings were conducted without method or care, so that the 
gold was not only but partially removed, but a very con¬ 
siderable part of the pay-gravel on the bed-rock was never 
reached, and rests untouched to this day. 

“Through all this tract there is a remarkable belt of 
decomposed slate, which seems to be permeated with gold, 
for almost any shovelful of the decayed rock will show 
numerous particles when washed.” 

THE REPORT OF DR. JACKSON. 

Dr. Charles T. Jackson, the distinguished geologist of 
Massachusetts, has made three professional explorations of 
the gold region of Georgia. In his last report he says : 

“Having on two previous explorations of this gold 
region made myself pretty well acquainted with the vari¬ 
ous placers or deposits of gold, and with the principal 
auriferous veins in that district, much of my present work 
consisted in a review of localities which I had previously 
explored, though some additional researches were made, 
and to a much greater extent, during my present survey. 

“ By testing with the pan the soil and the rocks of these 
veins, gold was always obtained, in proportions that would 
pay in large operations. 


15 


“The gold is found in both the slate rock and in the 
thin quartz veins which alternate with the strata ; also in 
the soil arising from the decomposition and disintegra¬ 
tion of the slate rocks. * * * I found it quite impos¬ 

sible to find any of the soil entirely free from gold, and 
it is my belief that not a square rod of land in the gold- 
belt can be found that will not give a show of gold, in a 
pan of earth of three or four quarts measure. I had some 
hundreds of panfuls of the soil, from all parts of the 
district, and from various depths, washed by experienced 
hands under my immediate direction, and found gold in 
every pan. Gold is, therefore, found generally diffused in 
the soil, but it is more abundant near auriferous veins, 
and near the bed-rock, in the different mines or placers.” 

MINING RESULTS IN SEVERAL INSTANCES. 

Mining operations in Georgia hitherto have been pros¬ 
ecuted with so little system that it is difficult finding 
authentic record of the results in any particular operation. 

From the Passmore vein over ten thousand dollars’ 
worth of gold was taken out in twenty days, by digging 
in the soft slate. 

Upon the John C. Calhoun property, situated on the 
banks of the Chestatee, upon coming to the gravel of the 
former river-bed, a rich deposit of wash-gold was found, 
and in twenty-three days, from this one pit, was taken 
twenty-three thousand dollars’ worth of the precious metal. 

The Dahlonega Gold Company, in building a dam the 
last season across the Chestatee River, at an old ford-way, 
every shovelful of which earth had twice previously been 
washed for gold, instituted a third washing, as the dirt 
was thrown upon the dam, with the result of five dollars 
a day per laborer. 

Dr. Blake, in his report to the Yahoola Hydraulic 
Mining Company, gives this account of a vein opened in 
the Chestatee River, and known as the “Boly Fields 
Mine:” 

“In this connection, we should not omit to notice the 


remarkable gold vein which wan opened in the bed of the 
Chestatee river the last summer. * * * The vein was 


discovered by following up the gold deposit along the 
river-—the gold, in fact, being traced to its source in the 
rock. It occurs in a very hard hornblendic slate, and is 
not accompanied by any great outcrop or lead of quartz. 
It is a narrow vein or seam, scarcely over two inches wide, 
averaging perhaps less than an inch, but bearing in places 
as much as half its bulk of gold, in ragged irregular 
masses, penetrating quartz, and a seam of carbonate of 
lime, and associated with a telluret of bismuth, in beau¬ 
tiful silver-white masses, which Dr. Jackson has shown, 
by analysis, to be the rare species bornite. When this 

vein was found the gold was visible for a foot or two only, 
but as t-he excavation progressed it was found to extend 
for several feet, and could be distinctly seen by persons 
standing on the bank. The most magnificent gold 
specimens ever seen uncrystalized were taken out of this 
place, before a depth of fifteen feet was reached. Their 
beauty was greatly enhanced by the perfect preservation 
of the rock, there not being a particle of rust or decompo¬ 
sition. So compact was it that the excavation could only 
progress by blasting, and at one time about three thousand 
dollars worth of gold was thrown out at a single blast. 
Many of the rocks, which could be easily lifted in one 
hand, were valued at hundreds of dollars.” 

With the outbreak of the late war, mining, with all 
kindred industries, ceased in Georgia; but, under the in¬ 
fluence of returning peace, it is starting into a new life, 
with a vigor and strength of capital unknown in its earlier 
days. During the past year several old companies have 
returned to their work with greatly enlarged means, while 
new companies have entered this promising field with 
abundant capital and all the modern appliances. 

The present spring two or three companies, in the im¬ 
mediate neighborhood of the Chestatee river, having 
completed all their preliminaries, have commenced mining 
operations, and with such gratifying results as give 
abundant assurance that our most sanguine calculations 
upon the mineral wealth of this section have been below 
the fact, and that it requires but skilled and persevering 
industry to make Northern Georgia one of the most famous 
gold placers of the continent. 














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